This invention relates to dental equipment. In particular, this invention relates to a dental transilluminator for the transillumination of teeth, gums and other tissues.
Transillumination is a very useful and effective diagnostic tool which has been used in dentistry for many years. Although capable only of highlighting anomalies which can be detected by visible light, dental transillumination can be more effective than an x-ray in the diagnosis of certain disorders such as interproximal caries, recurrent decay and longitudinal fractures, which can be extremely difficult to see in an x-ray.
A typical dental transilluminating device has a directional light wand wired to a power supply. The wand is composed of stainless steel and has a hollow tip forming an aperture which projects beyond the light source, to confine the light beam and minimize unwanted light dispersion into the mouth. The wand is reusable and is cleaned and sterilized in an autoclave between uses.
Existing dental transilluminating devices are complex and expensive, and difficult to maneuver in the mouth. Moreover, such devices do not provide any practical way to vary the illumination aperture, which makes it difficult to confine the light beam to a localized area, for example an individual tooth or interstitial tissue.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a dental transilluminating device having a detachable plastic wand which serves as an optical waveguide and illumination aperture. The wand is configured to allow a wide variety of illumination apertures by cutting the tip of the wand at any desired position and/or angle.
The device of the invention thus allows considerable flexibility in both localization of the light beam and angle of approach against the lingual surface of the teeth, gums and other structures and tissues. A preferred embodiment of the invention uses an inexpensive self-contained battery-powered light source, with plastic optical wands that are easy to detach and sterilize, and are optionally disposable.
The present invention thus provides a dental transilluminating device, comprising a light source, and an optical waveguide comprising a plastic wand having a tip defining an illumination aperture, detachably affixed to the light source, wherein the tip of the wand can be cut to a selected aperture configuration and angle in order to vary the illumination aperture.
The present invention further provides a dental transilluminating device comprising, in combination, a light source, and an optical waveguide comprising a plastic wand having a tip defining an illumination aperture, detachably affixed to the light source, wherein the tip of the wand can be cut to a selected aperture configuration and angle in order to vary the illumination aperture.
The present invention further provides a dental transilluminator attachment for a hand-held flashlight, comprising an optical waveguide comprising a plastic wand having a tip defining an illumination aperture, and an adapter for detachably affixing the wand to a flashlight, wherein the tip of the wand can be cut to a selected aperture configuration and angle in order to vary the illumination aperture of the wand.
In further aspects of the invention, the optical waveguide is formed from a clear plastic; a portion of the wand has generally circular cross-section; the wand tapers toward the tip; the light source is self-contained and battery-powered; the light source is a flashlight; an adapter is provided for detachably affixing the wand to the light source; and/or the wand is disposable.